Viral: ‘Aligarh’ writer Apurva Asrani finally buys home in Mumbai with partner Siddhant, 'pretended to be cousins for 13 years'

In a heart-touching post, Apurva Asrani wrote that the duo pretended to be cousins for 13 years so that they could rent a home in the city.

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@Apurvasrani

New Delhi: Screenwriter Apurva Asrani, who has worked for critically-acclaimed films such as ‘Aligarh’ and ‘Shahid’, earlier this week revealed that he and his partner Siddhant have finally bought a home together in Mumbai. In a heart-touching post, Apurva also wrote that the duo pretended to be cousins for 13 years so that they could rent a home in the city. However, now they have openly come out about their relationship and Apurva mentioned that they have already told their neighbours that they are partners.

"For 13 years we pretended to be cousins so we could rent a home together. We were told `keep curtains drawn so neighbors don`t know `what` you are`. We recently bought our own home. Now we voluntarily tell neighbors we are partners. It`s time LGBTQ families are normalised too," he tweeted, along with a picture of himself with Siddhant and another of their flat’s nameplate that reads - "Apurva and Siddhant".

For 13 years we pretended to be cousins so we could rent a home together. We were told 'keep curtains drawn so neighbors don't know 'what' you are'. We recently bought our own home. Now we voluntarily tell neighbors we are partners . It's time LGBTQ families are normalised too. pic.twitter.com/kZ9t9Wnc7i — Apurva (@Apurvasrani) May 29, 2020

Soon after Apurva shared his story, he was flooded with messages from colleagues and friends. Nikkhil Advani, Divya Dutta, Kunal Kapoor, Renuka Shahane were among the celebs to congratulate Apurva and Siddhant.

Later, Siddhant too shared Apurva’s post and said, “Truly overwhelmed by and grateful for all this love coming our way. Apurva and I have only ever followed our hearts and taken things head-on without giving much thought to naysayers.”

Truly overwhelmed by and grateful for all this love coming our way. @Apurvasrani and I have only ever followed our hearts and taken things head-on without giving much thought to naysayers. https://t.co/nKOQxDhrrw

— Sid Pil (@SidPill) May 30, 2020

Apurva Asrani is a scriptwriter and a National Award-winning film editor. He has written the story, screenplay and dialogue of Hansal Mehta`s acclaimed directorial ‘Aligarh’, a film he also edited. The 2015 film, featuring Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao, was a nuanced effort portrayal of the homosexual`s plight in our society based on a real incident.

In 2001, Apurva won the National Film Award for Best Editing for ‘Snip!’, a bilingual comedy directed by Sunhil Sippy.